Page 21 - Volume12 Number 5

the company’s sales and marketing manager, Owen G. Harned, to the East Coast where he visited businessmen in major cities to determine what they thought a cabin monoplane should possess.
Based on the market survey and Harned’s interviews, the decision was made to design and build a prototype business aircraft designated the Type 6000. Billed by Beech as the “Limousine of the Air,” by the spring of 1928 Weihmiller and his engineering staff completed design and construction of a prototype (serial number 230, registered X4765) that first flew on April 15 with chief test pilot Clarence Clark at the controls.
In June Walter flew the ship in the Kansas Air Tour and nearly 100,000 people saw the airplane. Among those were company officials and executives, and Walter was kept busy flying demonstrations. By August it was clear that businessmen wanted the Type 6000. The only
serious complaint heard by both Beech and Harned during flight demonstrations was that the cabin was too small. As a result, the Type 6000 was redesigned and enlarged to become the Type 6000B with a larger cabin, six seats, a more powerful radial engine and improved overall performance.
In the fall of 1928 Walter, accompanied by Harned and a few friends, flew a Type 6000B to attend the Los Angeles Aeronautical Exposition. Many demonstration flights were conducted by Beech and Owen Harned and a few firm orders were received. Among those signing up for a flight was a famous Hollywood actor named Wallace Beery (see sidebar). An active pilot, Beery had been flying an aging Travel Air Type BW biplane and although he told Beech that he liked the “old crate,” he was highly impressed by the performance and comfort of the big monoplane.
The Type 6000 prototype expressed Walter Beech’s concept of what a business airplane should be. Potential customers liked the monoplane but found the cabin too small and performance did not meet their expectations. (TEXTRON AVIATION)
MAY 2018 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 19